


Storms

by JustAnotherWriter (N1ghtshade)



Category: X-Men (Movieverse), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Panic Attacks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-31
Updated: 2020-12-31
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:27:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28457532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/N1ghtshade/pseuds/JustAnotherWriter
Summary: Charles has seen the nightmares. It would be hard not to. Alex's dreams are the loudest he's ever heard.But he doesn't pry. It's not his place to. Alex will talk when he wants to talk.
Relationships: Alex Summers & Charles Xavier
Comments: 5
Kudos: 30





	Storms

**Author's Note:**

  * For [NatalieRyan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NatalieRyan/gifts).



> This takes place in an AU of First Class where Darwin is still dead, but Angel stayed with the team instead of leaving with Shaw. It’s also set pre-Cuba.

Charles has seen the nightmares. It would be hard not to. Alex's dreams are the loudest he's ever heard. 

But he doesn't pry. It's not his place to. Alex will talk when he wants to talk. Charles got a scolding from Raven when they were kids about getting into people's heads unannounced and unwanted. He doesn't want to ruin what little trust Alex has in him. The boy will tell him everything when he wants to. 

Dinner tonight is worse than most, though. Angel is talking about her past. Not in so many words, really, but...it's abundantly clear what she's referencing. Charles asks her to keep it suitable for a kid like Sean's ears, but really, it's not Sean he's worried about. Sean tells dirtier jokes than any of them, actually. 

No, it's Alex he's afraid for. The kid's barely touched his meal since Angel started talking. He's pushing his potatoes around with a fork, even though he's usually ravenous for every single meal and Charles has found him eating leftovers in the kitchen out of the fridge. Hank says he thinks Alex's power is a combination of ambient energy absorption and heightened metabolism. It makes sense.

So for Alex not to be eating, means he's feeling absolutely terrible. Charles wants to ask Angel to stop, but he knows if he does, they'll realize why. There's already a sneaking suspicion among the others. Alex's reactions to being playfully cuffed on the shoulder by Sean, or to Hank having to measure him for the new suits he's working on, have been nothing short of panic. And Charles knows that if the others' minds haven't gone there yet, they will. 

Suddenly, Alex stands up, pushes his chair back from the table, and rushes out the door. 

Raven starts to stand up, and Hank is on the point of saying something, probably a jab, but Charles stands up faster. "Everyone stay here," he says firmly. No one wants to argue with that. 

He follows Alex out into the pelting rain, stopping to grab a jacket from the hook near the door. The boy was only wearing a thin t-shirt and jeans. Alex might have powers that can start fires, but it doesn't mean he's immune to temperature changes. They just force him to eat through his energy reserves faster. And after training today, he can't have much left to give. 

He doesn't want to read Alex's mind without his permission, that would only be yet another cruel violation of the boy's privacy, but his thoughts are so loud Charles can't help hearing them. He follows the trail of pain and fear to where Alex has collapsed against one of the brick gate posts. He's sitting huddled up, arms around his knees, head resting on his arms. 

"Stay back!" He shouts as Charles comes closer.

"Alex..."

"I can't make it stop. I don't want to hurt you." Through the rain and the darkness Charles can see a faint reddish glow around the boy's hands and chest. "Please. I can't hurt anyone else."

"You won't hurt me, Alex." Charles whispers. 

"Yes, I will, I can't stop it now." Alex is shaking, and Charles doesn't know if it's from the cold or from the power he's fighting to keep inside him.

"Alex, can I...I can calm you down, will you let me?" Charles asks. If Alex refuses, then he will leave. He won't get inside the boy's head without his consent. 

"You can't stop it now." Alex sounds like he's in pain. Like holding his power inside is tearing him apart. 

"I can try." 

"Okay." Alex takes a shaky breath.

Charles rests his fingers against his forehead. It doesn't really need to be that way, but it helps him concentrate, and it's just habit at this point. A sort of cue to his own power to start working. 

He focuses not on reading the thoughts currently in Alex's head, even though seeing some things is impossible. Instead, he replaces them with good things. Their little misfit family together. Warmth and happiness. The stray puppy Alex found digging through the trash cans and wants to keep, that's currently sleeping in the kitchen. 

Alex's breathing slows, and the red glow fades away. He begins to shiver harder, no longer heated by his overworked powers, his clothes soaked through from the rain. 

Charles breaks the connection long enough to drape Alex in the coat he brought with him. He doesn't dare touch him more than that. Alex's mind is calmer, now there's only a quiet hum of fear instead of a roaring wave. 

"Do you think you could walk back to the house?" Charles asks. 

Alex nods and stands up, but too quickly. He stumbles, and would have fallen to the muddy ground if Charles didn't catch him.

Alex's breathing has gone shallow and his thoughts are nothing more than a shadowy blur. He's passed out. Charles lifts the boy into his arms, flinching at how light Alex is. He's painfully underweight, it seems. Charles wonders how much of toll training has really been taking on him. He'll ask about that when Alex wakes up.

He carries the boy back to the house, past the worried stares of the others, and up the stairs to his bedroom. He deposits Alex on the bed, not bothering to worry about the mud being tracked in and smeared on the blankets. He's not about to change Alex's clothes, even though they're soaked and grimy. Alex is already shaken enough. He just tucks the boy under the covers, pushing back his dripping hair and letting more soft calming thoughts filter into the boy's dreams. 

There's a knock on the door, and he feels Raven's mind outside.

"It's open," He calls softly, and she steps in, holding the little brown puppy. It's blinking and yawning, stretching so the tiny white patch on its chest is visible. 

She sets the puppy on the blankets and steps back. "How is he?"

"He'll be okay." Charles means it. Alex isn't alright now, but he's got them to look after him now. The puppy wobbles up the bed and curls up next to Alex's cheek, licking his face a few times before dozing off again. 

Raven leaves, but Charles pulls up a chair and continues to run his fingers through Alex's hair. If he can keep the nightmares away for one night, he'll try. Alex deserves that. 


End file.
